{
    "schema": "ursy.press/story/1",
    "generated_at": "2026-10-12T19:27:55+00:00",
    "id": "ursy-press-116",
    "url": "https://ursy.press/stories/ursy-food-fifty-million-assertions/",
    "story_json": "https://ursy.press/stories/ursy-food-fifty-million-assertions/story.json",
    "title": "URSY.food: finding a dependable answer in conflicting food data",
    "kind": "Explainer",
    "official": false,
    "projects": [
        "URSY.food"
    ],
    "byline": "URSY",
    "date_published": "2026-09-13T09:03:19+01:00",
    "date_modified": "2026-09-15T18:57:53+01:00",
    "standfirst": "A packet, a database and a safety notice can tell different stories about the same food. URSY.food is being built to keep those sources in view and explain which one supports the answer.",
    "source": "URSY.food authoring snapshot, 11 September 2026",
    "reading_time_minutes": 2,
    "reading_order": 16,
    "sources": [
        {
            "title": "URSY.food authoring snapshot, 11 September 2026",
            "url": "",
            "note": "50,272,262 assertion rows in the local working database; historical project record, not a count of verified products."
        },
        {
            "title": "URSY.food source register and disagreement policy",
            "url": "https://ursy.food/sources/",
            "note": "Checked 15 September 2026."
        }
    ],
    "made_by": "Written with AI assistance for URSY.press from the sources listed here.",
    "citation": "URSY (13 Sep 2026). \u201cURSY.food: finding a dependable answer in conflicting food data.\u201d ursy.press/stories/ursy-food-fifty-million-assertions/",
    "bibtex": "@misc{ursy2026ursy-food-finding,\n  author = {URSY},\n  title = {URSY.food: finding a dependable answer in conflicting food data},\n  howpublished = {\\url{https://ursy.press/stories/ursy-food-fifty-million-assertions/}},\n  year = {2026},\n  month = {sep},\n  note = {URSY.press}\n}",
    "content_text": "Two sources can describe the same food differently. The ingredient list in a database may differ from the packet. A product name may have changed. A safety notice may arrive after an older record was collected.\nURSY.food is being built to keep track of those differences and explain which source supports a published answer.\nBy 11 September 2026, its working database held more than fifty million stored claims, each tied to evidence. One product can have many claims attached to it, including older versions and conflicting information. The size of the collection makes the individual decisions more important.\nAn assistant may eventually ask a short question about a product. The work behind a useful answer can involve deciding which of several records deserves to be used.\nThe packet and the database\nThe published source policy gives different kinds of information their own order of preference. For an ingredient list, the physical pack comes ahead of a database. For a recall, a regulator can take precedence over the manufacturer.\nWhen one value wins, the other remains in the evidence with the decision recorded. If the rules cannot settle a material disagreement, the field stays unknown with a reason. Some safety-sensitive information is held for a person to review before publication.\nThat gives the eventual reader more than a filled-in box. It provides a way to understand where the answer came from and why an alternative was set aside.\nThe current source register includes USDA FoodData Central and Open Food Facts, with their recorded permissions and review dates. Approval to use a source is kept separate from whether its material has actually been collected and published.\nThis is the food-information part of URSY\u2019s wider ambition. An assistant checking a product needs a useful answer, and sometimes the useful answer is that the record cannot yet settle the question.\nFor us, that is the value of keeping the sources and their history. A larger collection should help explain a product more clearly, including where the evidence falls short. An empty field with a reason can be more useful than a confident answer borrowed from the wrong record."
}